ANSONIA — A local pizza place is expanding, there’s a new assessor in town, and the floor plans for a new senior center are being finalized.
Those were some of the tidbits that came out of this week’s meeting of the Ansonia Board of Aldermen (held on Zoom Tuesday, Feb. 9).
Here’s a rundown:
New Assessor
Mayor David Cassetti announced that a new assessor had been hired and began work last week.
David Graybosch comes to Ansonia after serving the Town of Branford as its Assistant Assessor since 2014.
Graybosch previously worked for the towns of Newtown, Windsor Locks and Ridgefield.
The new hire replaces Marsha Benno. He is being paid $87,000, according to Ansonia government.
The primary duties of the Assessor’s office, according to the city’s website is to “compile a Grand List annually valuing real estate, personal property and motor vehicles in a fair and equitable manner, while adhering to the requirements set forth in the Connecticut General Statutes.”
Kurt Miller, the city’s chief financial officer, said Graybosch has hit the ground running, and will have the annual grand list done by the end of February.
Miller has also been busy working on the city budget, and said Cassetti will unveil his proposed budget for the 2021 – 2022 fiscal year on March 9.
The Hub To Expand On Main Street
On the economic development front, Economic Development Director/Grant Writer Sheila O’Malley said the popular downtown pizza bar, The Hub, is planning to expand its restaurant at 313 Main St. into a portion of the former Eddy’s Bake Shop next door, which closed in 2019.
The Hub is a hot spot for wood-fired pizza, wings and craft beer, with an interior featuring whiskey barrel pub tables and a garage door entrance.
Riverwalk
O’Malley also told the board bids for the next phase of the Ansonia Riverwalk expansion will be awarded soon, and once Mother Nature decides to cooperate and stop unleashing her snow fury, construction will soon follow.
Senior Center Update
Plans for a new senior center and multi-purpose community room are also nearing completion, O’Malley said.
“We’re pretty far along in finalizing everything and hoping to put this out to bid in the next few weeks,” O’Malley told the board.
The new senior center is slated to be built on the third floor of the former Farrel Corp. building downtown at 65 Main St. in the same building where a new police headquarters is taking shape. O’Malley said the senior center will be about 6.700 square-feet and “pretty much include everything the seniors want.”
Local architect/engineer Mike Marcinek of AEPM International is in the final stages of the project design and is expected to present the detailed plan and layout during next month’s aldermen meeting, according to O’Malley.
Alderwoman Diane Stroman, who also serves on the city’s Elderly Commission, said commission members have met several times with Marcinek to discuss the new center and are happy with what’s being proposed. They’d also like to see a bocce court installed.
O’Malley said the project cost is being finalized, and if neighboring Derby were interested in regionalizing with Ansonia on the senior center, there could be some significant savings realized. So far, only informal discussions have taken place with Derby Senior Center staff, according to Corporation Counsel John Marini, who added “there’s a lot of interest” from Derby to possibly share the space.
Ansonia’s current senior center will need to close to make way for the new mixed-use development slated for the ATP and Palmer buildings downtown.
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